Rise of Patanjali – Marketing lessons to learn

Background :-

The big brand Patanjali Ayurved Limited is an Indian FMGC company with headquarters in Delhi. This company has left a remarkable mark on the business industry with its sale of mineral and herbal products. According to CLSA and HSBC, Patanjali is the fastest growing FMCG Company in India.

Reasons for rise of Patanjali :-

The brand sells lower-priced products than the other products in the market. This is a major reason for customer attraction and the product’s rapid rise. In a price conscious market like India, this strategy works.

Active advertisement has also helped in the growth. They utilized all kinds of mediums to market their products. The brand has 112 different ads on Youtube for their products. They have over 8 owned social media channels across Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. They have become one of the most active advertisers in recent times according to several news reports.

Baba Ramdev and his team at Patanjali is a content marketing machine. They create tons of content to educate and inform their customers.

The brand focuses on going all herbal and natural in urban polluted areas. The produce is picked up right from the farms. This increases the effective income of the farmers. The purchase cost is effectively low too. Hence, this creates a win-win situation for the urban people as well as the farmers and producers.

Marketing lessons to learn :-

Patanjali created organic products at value pricing (price depends on customer’s perspective rather than on cost based pricing) when FMCG companies were focusing on market share from metro cities and small packaging. It focused and developed on the correct notch in the Indian industry to flourish.

A direct connection between the roots and the top works great for business. They have invested in Farms through Government schemes and created their own distributor channel. This removed the middleman from both the sides and contributed in their success.

A suitable brand ambassador was chosen. Patanjali has Ramdev Baba who has won people’s hearts and trust over the years with yoga sessions. Now, he seems to be an authentic and assured person for selling ayurvedic products to its customers.

The products of Patanjali have a cultural flavor in it. The products are marketed under the ‘Swadeshi’ campaign which seems as an exclusive product for the Indian market.

Patanjali has developed a large and trustworthy system of vendors and distributors. This ensures that their products are available in part of the country. Such extensive sales and distribution of products will automatically boost up a company. It has sales channel of over 5000 distributors, 15,000 stores, and 100 mega-marts.

The brand also shifted its marketing strategies towards media. After building up of a stable infrastructure, it took the mainstream of advertising its products with television ads, print ads, social media, etc. this helped in expanding of the brand and educating people about the products.

Conclusion :-

Patanjali’s marketing of a variety of products which are all ‘natural and organic’ is the key for attracting customers. The company is targeting revenues of Rs. 10,000 crore for FY 2016-17 and Rs. 20,000 -25,000 crore in FY 2018. Patanjali has been so effective in its marketing that even cash-deprived banks in India are offering them loans.